hearing voices that other people don't (these could be positive and helpful or hostile and nasty)

I felt as though I was in wonderland. None of my family or friends understood why... I had a calling from a voice in sky. I was lost and lonely.

Delusions

Lots of people have beliefs that many other people don't share. But a delusion is usually a false belief that noone else shares. You will still believe it even if logically it doesn't make sense, or if experiences show that it can't be true.

For example, you might think you are a very important person - for example you may believe that you are rich and powerful or that you can control the stock markets or the weather. These kind of beliefs are sometimes called delusions of grandeur.

Some delusions can be very frightening and can make you feel threatened. For example you might feel that something or someone is trying to control, harm or kill you (when you have no reason to believe this). These ideas are sometimes called paranoid delusions.

Watch Miles talk about his experieces of paranoia and hearing voices.

Disorganised thinking and speech

Hallucinations and delusions can make your thoughts and emotions feel confused and disorganised.

But disorganised thinking (sometimes called 'formal thought disorder') can also be a type of psychosis.

Racing thoughts is where thoughts go through your head very fast. If you have racing thoughts you usually have flight of ideas too.

Flight of ideas is where your thoughts move very quickly from idea to idea, making links that other people don't.